*5 Years Later*
Clary's POV
I hear the bedroom door creak open as I stay in bed pretending that I don't have to get up. I know what is going to happen in the next few seconds, but I don't move trying to take in every moment of silence I have left.
"Momma!" Grayson climbs on my bed pulling his blanket behind him and bouncing up and down, "Momma get up!"
"Hey GrayGray" I say, my voice raspy from sleep, "How'd you sleep buddy?". I run my hands through my 4 year old son's messy blonde hair, Jace's hair, as he snuggles close to me. I often think about how things would have been if I'd never had Grayson, but moments like this make all my doubts disappear.
"Good" he smiles, and that makes me smile too.
"Well" I push the covers off and stand up finally accepting that I have to get out of bed, "let's get moving!". Grayson immediately jumps up and into my arms.
The rest of ou morning goes like it usually does. I make breakfast and Gray helped me. I clean up and make the beds before getting Gray dressed, and then go get my makeup done, hair fixed and myself dressed while Gray plays in his room. Finally we make it out of the house.
I have to get to work, but first I have to drop Gray off at Simon's. Having to work the brunch shift and the dinner shift at the café becomes pretty tiring, but it gets the bills payed. That means that most of the time Grayson comes with me to work, but sometimes Simon takes him for the day.
"Uncle Simon!" Gray runs up to Simon after I get him out of his car seat and Simon picks him up and spins him around.
"What's up little man?" He greets him.
"Well he has been just a ball of energy this morning" I say as I give Simon a hug, "thank you for taking him today".
"I love spending time with him" Simon put Gray down and he ran to the playground.
"I'll see you later today" I grin.
"See ya" he responds running after Gray as I get back into the car and go to work.
The café is pretty crowded when I get there, so I get straight to work. Being a waitress isn't so bad most of the time, but now and then there's that one customer that makes you want to spit in their food. Not that I would ever do that, but I still think about it.
"Hey Clary" One of the other waitresses, Hillary, greets me after about an hour of work. She's always been pretty nice to me.
"Hey" I smile as I pour coffee into mugs.
"Where the little firecracker today?" She asks surprised that Gray isn't here.
"Simon's spending the day with him" I explain
"So" she changes the subject quickly, "My sister's coming into town today's and I was wondering if you could cover my lunch shift".
"Yeah" I agree. I wouldn't usually take on extra hours, but since Grayson was with Simon today I figure why not. "Sure. I'll cover your shift".
"Thanks" she smiles hanging up her apron as the brunch rush ended, "you're darling".
I lounged around the café for the next few hours. Lunch wasn't busy, which was great because it gave me time to recharge before the dinner rush. However, dinner was a bit empty as well.
"So, did your mom give you permission to go to the concert?" I overheard a teenager tell her friends as I cleaned up the counter.
"I haven't asked" One of the other girls answers, "but my mom would never let me go anyway"
"You can't miss this" the first girl says seriously, "this is the only time they'll ever come here"
"Don't worry" she other girl reassures the first one, "I'm going no matter what her answer is.
They both smile, grab their drinks and head out.
I remember when I used to follow Rogue Kingdom around when they had out of town gigs. My mom didn't like it one bit, but I still went anyway. Those days are far behind me now, but I can't help but smile at the memories.
"Momma" Gray's voice snaps me out of my thoughts. He runs right up to me and I kneel down to hug him.
"How was your day?" I ask.
"Good" he answers burying his face in my neck. He knows what to do by now when he has to hang around until I finish work, so he sits in one of the counter stools and I give him some blank paper and crayons.
"How was he?" I grab Gray's backpack from Simon.
"He was a little angel" he smiles. I love that Simon can be there for him. "He was running around all day so he'll be out like a light".
"Thanks again for taking him today" I really am extremely thankful
"Don't worry about it Clary" he smirks, "you know I'll always be here for you. I'll see you"
"See you" I wave and he leaves the Café.
As the night winds down there's only a few people left in here and they're just about to leave. I start cleaning up since it's my turn to lock up. I switch the radio station and find that a "Rogue Kingdom" song is playing. After everything happened, I didn't like listening to their music anymore, but as time went by I started to really enjoy listening to Jace's voice again, even if it was through the radio. I hadnt seen him since that night in the garage, except for magazines and the news. All anyone talked about was how he kept sleeping around and getting drunk in bars. I'm glad his dream came true, but I wish he hadn't gotten blinded up by the fame.
Once the café was completely empty I finished putting everything away before finding Grayson passed out in one of the booths. I grab my purse, Grayson's bag and carry Grayson who's getting a little too big for me. I could have woken him up, but then I wouldn't have been able to deal with grouchy Grayson. I walk outside and notice its raining now so I grab my jacket and use it to cover Gray.
It takes me a couple of minutes of struggling to finally get the door closed, but when I do I turn around to walk to my car when I run into someone.
"Oh" I place my hand on Gray's head to make sure he didn't wake up as I apologize, "I am so sorry".
"My bad" a low voice I recognize immediately says.
It can't be. I look up slowly trying to figure out if it is him or it isn't. He has tight jeans which are soaked from the rain. His strong muscular arms are covered in various tattoos and his drenched shirt presses tightly against his torso. He's much taller than me, but honestly that's not that hard to do. But then I get to the top. Tousled blonde hair layed messily on his head. Jace. I looked straight into his golden eyes and couldn't believe this was actually happening. I had pictured this moe,not in my head over and over again, but I never thought it would actually happen.
"Jace" I look up surprised.
"Clary!" He finally looks down and realizes who I am.
"You're soaking wet" I point out.
"I got kind off lost" he admits grinning
"Do you want to come in and dry up a little?" I ask as he stares at Gray. I know that he's connections everything in his head, but I try to stay calm.
"Yeah, sure" he smiles and I turn back and struggle to unlock the door. He leans down to help me, but I manage to get the door open.
"The bathroom's in the back" I point out and he heads down there, "you can dry off in there". I try putting Gray back down on the booth, but he squirms. I really don't want him to wake up, so I just keep him in my arms.
"I hung my shirt up in the bathroom to dry faster" he comes back shirtless and I can't help but stare at his abs. He had always been pretty fit, but he's gotten really buff in the last few years.
"Yeah" I try not to look at him, "that's fine"
"So" he sits across the counter from me, "how's life been?"
"Okay" I answer vaguely, "I would ask you how you've been, but I'm pretty sure I've heard about most of it already"
"It's crazy isn't it?" He looks down and smiles, "it's everything I ever dreamed about. Well almost everything", I don't know what to say, so I just stay silent. "Are you married now?" He breaks my silence.
"No" I shake my head. This was it. The moment I had dreamed about and yet dreaded since the day I left that garage.
"How old is he?" He frowns, and I know I can't lie now.
"He's 4" I nod and my eyes tear up.
"Clary" he begins to say trying to remain calm, "is he mine?"
I have to swallow the knot in my throat before speaking. After all this time. It only takes a second for everything to change. I take in a deep breath and look up, my eyes glossy with tears. "Yes"
